Yesterday, I discovered a new review on Amazon for my novel Neanderthal Swan Song. I am referring to the 4-star review by “Fred.” First, I want to take the time to thank Fred both for reading the novel and for the Amazon review. That he found much to take issue with and still delivered a 4-star review is a testament to the character-driven focus of the novel, I think.
I wanted to make some comments to clarify why I did a few things, but I did not want to do that on Amazon for obvious reasons.  I am not arguing Fred’s opinion. A reader’s reaction to a novel is the reader’s own, and that makes the reader correct. He has several valid points that I both agree with and think are worthy of comment. Follow the link above if you would like to read his review.
…the grossly over simplification concerning the materiel support needed and the red tape with cloning/impregnating/delivery and the need for security which would accompany such an activity.
Valid points. Not being a follower of cloning technology, I made the decision to keep much of this off-stage. This is why the point-of-view character is not directly involved in the cloning process, but a detached observer who is not always in the loop.
Lack of a Psych being involved from start is ludicrous.
Bulls eye. This never occurred to me.
Never did answer how the original Neanderthal got to Greenland…
As it turns out, this was the very subplot I removed from the novel for length reasons. I still have the material and will probably release that in the form of a short story, in all likelihood free and in the next 3 months.
From what little evidence we have it seems that Neanderthal children did not exhibit the more pronounced cranial characteristics found in adult classic Neanderthals–those appear to have come in as they reached maturity.
I never came across this tidbit in my research, and I find that to be a fascinating revelation if true. If anyone knows an accessible resource to discuss this, I would appreciate a link.
Another “oops” is the book’s contention that Humans and Neanderthals could not interbreed. That they could and did of course has been dramatically proven in recent years. Proven to the point that hybrid “mules” were definitely not the result of the familiarity.
This criticism is spot on. As it turns out, the novel was written well before the discovery of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans, up to 10% of an individual’s DNA if I recall correctly. Unfortunately, the inability to interbreed is so ingrained into the story that it would have required a major revision to change. Instead, I made a casual comment that this finding was proven false over the next few decades. Keeping this misinformation was a strategic business decision, and not an error in understanding on my part.I take my 10-yard penalty and loss of down.
The author does know how to wonderfully describe and exquisitely develop a truly despicable Bitch character.
I do love this line! Believe it or not, I actually toned this character down significantly from how she was originally portrayed.
It left me wanting to read more fiction on the same or similar topic–of which there really isn’t any. I hope the author writes again, but with more savvy.
I am not sure how much more story there is to tell in this area. Most of the material I have in the planning stage is more traditional science fiction, with a hard SF bent, though maybe not Analog magazine hard SF.  There are a few novels in the planning stage that might appeal. Down the road I may tell the story of the Neanderthal’s son, but that work is not yet on the timeline.
Once again, thanks to Fred for reading and for taking the time to review.
